Carbon Emissions

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what measures his Department introduced to reduce its carbon emissions in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012.

Gregory Barker: In the year from 1 April 2010 to 31 March 2011 DECC introduced a range of measures to reduce carbon emissions from its buildings, including:
	the installation of a dedicated chiller to cool our server rooms;
	the establishment of occupancy controls in all meeting rooms; and
	the replacement of tungsten halogen and fluorescent lighting with LED lighting.
	In the year from 1 April 2011 to 31 March 2012 further carbon saving measures were introduced including:
	the installation of variable speed drives to supply fans;
	improving controls for heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems;
	installing additional presence detectors to control lighting; and
	automating many manual adjustments we make to our building management systems.
	Since 1 April 2012 we have installed a system for recovering and recycling heat generated in the kitchen at our HQ building.
	More information, including DECC's Carbon Management Plan, can be found on our website at:
	http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/tackling/saving _energy/what_doing/10_percent/low_carbon/lowcarbon.aspx

Exhaust Emissions: Large Good Vehicles

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the carbon footprint arising from lorries (a) delivering biomass to and (b) removing fly ash and other materials from biomass power stations in the last year for which figures are available.

Gregory Barker: Biomass power generators above 50 kilowatts capacity are required within the renewables obligation to report on the greenhouse gas lifecycle of their output. This includes the emissions resulting from transporting the biomass feedstocks from where they were grown to the power station. It does not consider transport related emissions for the removal of residual materials from the station.
	Reports covering biomass feedstocks used between April 2011 and March 2012 are due with Ofgem by 31 May this year.

Manpower

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many full-time equivalent employees have (a) left and (b) been recruited to his Department in the last two years.

Gregory Barker: The number of employees (a) leaving and (b) joining the Department of Energy and Climate Change, in the period 1 April 2010-31 March 2012 are shown in the following table:
	
		
			 Period Leavers Joiners 
			 1 April 2010 to 31 March 2011 11 197 
			 1 April 2011 to 31 March 2012 129 238 
		
	
	The numbers shown above relate to civil servants. Full-time equivalent data are not available for the full period above.

Minerals

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will consider giving mineral rights to communities and individual landowners that live near or above fracking sites.

Charles Hendry: The Petroleum Act 1998, like its predecessor the Petroleum Act 1934, vests the right to explore, drill for and produce oil and gas in the Crown, and empowers the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate to issue licences enabling the licensee to carry out such activities, subject to other regulatory checks and permits. In general, the rights to other minerals rest with the landowner. I have no proposals for change in these matters.
	The holder of a petroleum licence however will need to acquire rights to use the owner's land (including for location of equipment) and access the oil or gas, in order to conduct drilling and production operations. The terms on which these rights are acquired are a matter for negotiation between the licensee and the relevant landowner(s).

National Grid

Dan Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what consideration he has given to creating an open web-based register of grid connection applications by distribution network operators to improve transparency in the sector.

Charles Hendry: The independent regulator, Ofgem, has responsibility for overseeing the grid connection regime, Ofgem requires distribution network companies to publish Long Term Development Statements (LTDS) to ensure that anyone interested in connecting generation or demand can readily identify opportunities or constraints on the network. These statements include information on all connected generation and all generation that has been given a connection offer.
	The LTDSs do not include details of all grid connection applications. To do so could give a distorted picture of available capacity on the network, as there is no certainty that an application will result in an actual connection.

National Grid

Dan Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what consideration he has given to making improvements to the grid connection process managed by distribution network operators.

Charles Hendry: The independent energy regulator, Ofgem, has responsibility for overseeing the grid connection process of distribution network operators (DNOs). In 2010, it introduced guaranteed standards of performance for connections, which establishes minimum connection timescales for DNOs to meet. In the first year of operation all standards have been met on more than 90% of occasions. Last month it introduced requirements for DNOs to measure customer satisfaction. Ofgem has also introduced competition to the connection process to drive up connection performance.
	Ofgem's price control review for electricity distribution companies, which was launched earlier this year, will consider additional measures to improve connections to the network in line with DECC's broader energy and low carbon policies. DECC's response to this consultation emphasised the importance of continuing to improve the connection service network companies provide.

Procurement

Michael Dugher: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what proportion of payments made by his Department to small and medium-sized enterprises have been paid late since May 2010.

Gregory Barker: Historically the Department has not separately recorded expenditure with small and medium-sized enterprises. Going forward, the Department will use a spend analysis tool developed by the Government Procurement Service to provide this data.
	Departmental records on late payment for all suppliers including small and medium-sized enterprises can be seen by following the link to the Department's published prompt payment information:
	http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/about/procurement/prompt_pay/prompt_pay.aspx

Procurement

Michael Dugher: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what proportion of his Department's expenditure on procurement has gone to small and medium-sized enterprises since May 2010.

Gregory Barker: Historically the Department has not separately recorded expenditure with small and medium-sized enterprises. Going forward the Department will use a spend analysis tool developed by the Government Procurement Service to provide these data. This tool links departmental spend to suppliers with Dunn and Bradstreet data to identify small and medium-sized enterprises.

Procurement

Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will take steps to ensure that payments to public sector contractors hired by his Department are made within 30 days.

Gregory Barker: The Government has set Departments a target of paying 80% of invoices from small and medium-sized entities within five working days of receipt of a valid invoice. The Department of Energy and Climate Change applies this target to all valid invoices whether they are from public or private sector contractors and regardless of size. The Department has consistently exceeded this target without any change to our contractual terms and conditions. The statistics are published on the DECC website:
	http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/about/procurement/prompt_pay/prompt_pay.aspx
	The Department of Energy and Climate Change has signed-up to the “Prompt Payment Code” and has developed procurement policies in line with the Prompt Payment Code's recommended best practice.

Security

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many people who are not employees of his Department have been issued with security passes for his Department's building; and for what reason each such pass was issued.

Gregory Barker: holding answer 17 May 2012
	DECC non-staff passes are only given to security cleared civil servants from other Government Departments who have a business requirement to visit DECC regularly in the course of their duties.
	As of 15 May 2012, there were 99 individuals who hold this pass.
	Additionally seven further individuals who support the Ministers hold a DECC pass, all of whom hold the appropriate minimum level of security clearance, apart from the Government Whips.
	Third party ancillary staff also hold DECC passes, prior to being granted a pass, it must be confirmed they hold the correct level of security clearance. Providing details on numbers would incur disproportionate cost.

Dealing with the Past

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on which dates he met party leaders to discuss dealing with the past.

Owen Paterson: Upon taking office I invited all party leaders to discuss the issue of dealing with the past as part of a wider listening exercise the Minister of State, Northern Ireland Office, my right hon. Friend the Member for East Devon (Mr Swire) and I undertook on the issue. Following the Assembly motion I again invited party leaders to discuss with me whether they thought any consensus could be achieved on the issue. I have now held several of these meetings with party leaders and plan further meetings to continue the discussions.

Travel

Stuart Andrew: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, how much the Electoral Commission spent on (a) first and (b) standard class rail travel in (i) 2009-10, (ii) 2010-11 and (iii) 2011-12.

Gary Streeter: The following table shows the amount the Electoral Commission spent on (a) first and (b) standard class rail travel in (i) 2009-10, (ii) 2010-11 and (iii) 2011-12.
	
		
			 £ 
			  2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 
			 (a) First class rail travel 14,129 2,205 54,575 
			 (b) Standard class rail travel 81,030 52,828 (1)— 
			 (1 )Indicates brace 
		
	
	The total figure for 2009-10 (£95,159) includes an amount of £18,859 spent on rail travel by the Boundary Committee for England (now the Local Government Boundary Commission for England) before it became a separate organisation on 1 April 2010. The Commission is unable to split the costs for the Boundary Committee in 2009-10 between first and standard class.
	In August 2010 the Commission revised its travel and subsistence policy. First class travel is now only allowed if it is more economical than standard class and is specifically approved by the chief executive. As a result of this policy change the Commission no longer classifies and records first and standard class rail travel separately.

Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport whether his Department has made an analysis of the discussions in the European Parliament on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement and its possible effect on internet freedom.

Edward Vaizey: The final Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) text has been reviewed by Government lawyers from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the European Commission Legal Services who confirm that ACTA will not create new intellectual property rights, laws or criminal offences in the UK or EU. As such, the agreement does not affect current internet freedoms.

Food: Marketing

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport if he will bring forward proposals to prevent children from being exposed to online marketing of high fat, sugar and salt food and drinks.

Edward Vaizey: The rules covering online advertising are the responsibility of the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) who are independent of Government. The ASA's codes specifically recognise the social imperative of ensuring that advertising is responsible and that children and young people are suitably protected from harmful or inappropriate advertising. The ASA's non-broadcast Advertising Code, which covers online promotion (including promotional activity by companies on their own websites, on social networking sites and the use of advergames and user generated content), already contains strict rules on all food and drink advertising aimed at children.

Risk Assessment

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what strategic or transitional risk registers in each area of policy are held by his Department; and if he will make a statement.

John Penrose: The Department holds a number of project, programme and local risk registers. It does not hold high level strategic risk registers for specific policy areas and does not classify any of its risk registers as “transitional”.

VisitBritain

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what budget his Department allocated to Visit Britain in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12 and (c) 2012-13; and how much was allocated to each (i) region and (ii) destination management organisation in each such year.

John Penrose: The grant in aid the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) allocated to VisitBritain and VisitEngland, for the years requested, can be found in the following table.
	
		
			 VisitBritain and VisitEngland grant in aid 
			  £ million 
			 2010-11 40.323 
			 2011-12 47.771 
			 2012-13 48.672 
		
	
	DCMS does not fund individual regions or destination management organisations.

Billing

Michael Dugher: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proportion of payments made by her Department to small and medium-sized enterprises have been paid late since May 2010.

Norman Baker: The Department for Transport monitors its payment performance for all vendor invoices in accordance with the criteria laid down by government, namely:
	80% of vendor invoices should be paid within 5 working days of receipt.
	98% of invoices should be paid within 30 working days of receipt.
	The full statistics for the last 12 months are published on the Department for Transport’s website at the following address:
	http://assets.dft.gov.uk/publications/prompt-payment-statistics/statistics.pdf
	Data is not compiled on payment performance specifically in respect of small and medium-sized enterprises. I regret that this analysis could only be provided other than at disproportionate cost.

Carbon Emissions

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions her Department has had with the Department for Energy and Climate Change on future UK carbon budgets.

Norman Baker: Ministers and officials from the Department for Transport have had, and continue to have, regular discussions with their counterparts in the Department for Energy and Climate Change on this and other issues. This Department played a key role, for example, in inter-departmental discussions on the level of the fourth carbon budget, which was announced in May 2011, and in the development of the Government's Carbon Plan, which was published in December 2011.

Carbon Emissions

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps her Department is taking on implementing the recommendation of the Committee on Climate Change that the UK's share of emissions from international aviation and shipping be included in the UK's carbon budgets.

Norman Baker: The Department for Transport and the Department for Energy and Climate Change are working closely with other Government departments in considering our response to the Committee on Climate Change's advice on whether to include international aviation and shipping emissions in the UK's 2050 target and associated carbon budgets.

Driving Offences

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when she expects the data for (a) seat belt wearing and (b) mobile telephone use by drivers to be available for (i) 2010 and (ii) 2011.

Michael Penning: Data on seat belt wearing and mobile phone use by drivers for 2010 and 2011 have not been collected and there are currently no plans to collect this data in the immediate future.
	Details of recorded offences for failing to wear a seat belt and using a handheld mobile phone while driving can be found on the Home Office and Ministry of Justice websites:
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/statistics/criminal-justice-stats/motoring-tables.xls
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/science-research-statistics/research-statistics/police-research/immigration-tabs-q4-2011/fixed-penalty-notice-1011-tabs?view=Binary

Driving under Influence

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what information she has available on the number of road traffic (a) violations and (b) accidents in which a driver has consumed alcohol below the legal limit.

Michael Penning: Information about the quantity of alcohol in the blood of reported road accident fatalities aged 16 or over, who die within 12 hours of a road accident in Great Britain, is collected by the Department, from Coroners in England and Wales and Procurators Fiscal in Scotland. It is then matched with the data on the circumstances of the accidents from the STATS 19 police accident reporting form.
	The Department is also separately supplied with data (so far by 40, out of the 43, police forces in England and Wales) on the results of roadside breath alcohol screening tests, administered by police, using recently introduced digital recording equipment. The equipment is able to record and report the specific quantity of any alcohol present in a persons system at the roadside, the reason for the test (such as a road traffic collision or a moving traffic offence), the age and gender of the person being tested and the date and time it was carried out.
	The Department publishes statistics based on these data sources on its website, at the following links:
	http://www.dft.gov.uk/statistics/releases/road-accidents-and-safety-annual-report-2010/
	http://www.dft.gov.uk/statistics?orderby=title&post_type =table&s=ras51

Driving: Licensing

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many prosecutions there were for the (a) purchase and (b) sale of fraudulent drivers' licences online in each of the last five years.

Crispin Blunt: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.
	Other than where specified in a statute, centrally held information does not include all the circumstances of each case. It is not possible to identify from information held on the Ministry of Justice Court Proceedings Database those specific cases where a fraudulent drivers' licence has been purchased or sold or whether or not this offence occurred online.

Driving: Licensing

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent assessment she has made of the numbers of fraudulent drivers' licences sold online.

Michael Penning: The Department for Transport has not carried out any assessment about the number of fraudulent driving licences that have been sold online.
	Intelligence gathered by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) indicates that websites which claim to provide genuine driving licences are actually scams. Money is taken from members of the public but no driving licence is produced. Intelligence about websites that appear to be offering driving licences for sale is passed to the police to allow the appropriate action to be taken. The police service is the only organisation within the UK able to combat internet based criminality.
	Genuine DVLA issued driving licences employ sophisticated physical security features making them among the most secure documents in the world. The DVLA also provides information to stakeholders on various security features that should be present in genuine driving licences to help them identify any false licences that may be produced. The DVLA works closely with other Government Departments and enforcement agencies to tackle identity crime.

Highways Agency

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many and what proportion of senior staff left the Highways Agency in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12; and if she will make a statement.

Norman Baker: In 2010-11, the Highways Agency had 29 Senior Civil Servants (SCS) at the start of the financial year and there were no leavers. In 2011-12, there were 30 Senior Civil Servants (SCS) at the start of the financial year and there were less than five leavers.

Midland Main Line

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what assessment she has made of the potential benefits for Kettering of upgrading the Midland Main Line at Derby, Leicester and Market Harborough;
	(2)  what assessment she has made of the potential negative consequences of electrifying the Midland Main Line without first upgrading the line, including the remodelling at Derby;
	(3)  what estimate she has made of the expected reduction in journey times arising from the upgrade and then electrification of the Midland Main Line.

Theresa Villiers: Network Rail is assessing the business case for upgrading and electrifying the Midland Main Line which could enable some reductions in passenger journey times if accompanied by works at various locations including Derby, Leicester, and Market Harborough. Network Rail has advised that electrification alone would have little impact on passenger journey times. The Department for Transport expects to announce a decision on rail investment in the period from 2014 to 2019 by July 2012.

Midland Main Line

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when she plans to make a decision on the possible upgrade and electrification of the Midland Mainline.

Theresa Villiers: The Government expects to announce decisions on rail investment in the period from 2014 to 2019 by July 2012.

Procurement

Michael Dugher: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what proportion of payments made by his Department to small and medium-sized enterprises have been paid late since May 2010;
	(2)  what proportion of his Department's expenditure on procurement has gone to small and medium-sized enterprises since May 2010.

Bob Neill: The proportion of late payments made by my Department (excluding the arm’s length bodies) to small and medium-sized enterprises between May 2010 and March 2012 was 4%. An invoice is considered late if it not paid within five working days. This five-day requirement is more demanding than the 10-day target that operated under the last administration.
	The proportion of my Department's expenditure (excluding arm’s length bodies) on procurement with small and medium-sized enterprises between May 2010 and March 2012 was 11%. DCLG has agreed four tasks that will increase engagement with small and medium-sized enterprises (i.e. updating our website with information to help these organisations understand how to participate in our procurements, delivering product surgeries, breaking larger procurements into smaller lots and publishing a pipeline of upcoming procurement opportunities). This is an ongoing strategy and we have implemented the necessary changes and procedures ahead of time. This is helping us contribute to the overall 25% target set by the Prime Minister.
	We do not centrally hold spend data on small and medium-sized enterprises for our arm’s length bodies for financial year 2010-11; however, for 2011-12 where data is available, the proportion of spend on small and medium-sized enterprises for the Department and its arm’s length bodies was 21.4 %.
	Annex B of the Cabinet Office report, "Making Government business more accessible to small and medium-sized enterprises—One Year On" also contains information on my Department's spend with small and medium-sized enterprises up to Quarter 3 of 2011-12. This can be found at the following website:
	www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/resource-library/making-government-business-more-accessible-smes-one-year

Procurement

Michael Dugher: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when his Department next expects to undertake a spend recovery audit to identify overpayments to suppliers caused by fraud or error.

Bob Neill: The Department continuously conducts checks and balances to audit the payments process and identify over payments and causes of fraud. However, DCLG entered into a contract with PRGX UK Ltd on 23 April 2012 to undertake an independent spend recovery audit of payments made in the period 2006-07 to present. The audit is expected to commence in June 2012.

Email

Stephen Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether his Department has taken legal advice in respect of claims relating to Freedom of Information Act 2000 requests for emails about official business sent from non-departmental accounts.

Tim Loughton: holding answer 16 May 2012
	Yes.

Food Technology: Young People

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he plans to take to support families in teaching young people practical cooking skills.

Nick Gibb: holding answer 16 May 2012
	The Department believes that learning about food and cookery is an important life skill.
	The Government promotes healthy living through programmes and campaigns to encourage families and children to eat sensible portions, to eat fruit and vegetables and to more physically active. The Healthy Schools toolkit helps schools to plan health and well-being improvements for their pupils. The Healthy Schools toolkit is available from the Department's website at:
	http://tinyurl.com/healthyschoolskit
	The School Food Trust's Let's Get Cooking scheme is a national network of cooking clubs for children, families and their communities across England. Information is available at:
	http://www.letsgetcooking.org.uk
	The Change4Life website also has information about staying healthy for families, and resources for schools. It provides links to local activities and organisations in local areas. The website is available at:
	http://www.nhs.uk/Change4Life/Pages/change-for-life.aspx

Personal Injury: Compensation

David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what percentage of the total number of personal injury claims made in the last full year for which figures are available were for damages of £5,000 or less; and how many claims there were for £5,000 or less in that period;
	(2)  how many of the personal injury claims with a damages value of £5,000 or less in the last year for which figures are available arose from a work-related injury.

Jonathan Djanogly: The Ministry of Justice does not hold figures centrally which specifically relate to claims for personal injury or work-related injuries, or the amounts of damages in these. Such cases are logged onto the administrative computer systems used in the county courts of England and Wales. However the information held in these systems does not enable them to be separately identified from other types of claims for unspecified amounts of money or for the amount of damages claimed to be identified.
	Exact identification of personal injury cases and the amount of damages claimed in these would require the inspection of individual case files at disproportionate cost.

Reoffenders

Andrew Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the re-offending rate is for people sentenced to one year imprisonment or less; and what steps he is taking to reduce reoffending by such people.

Crispin Blunt: The proven reoffending rate for adults released from custodial sentence lengths of less than a year in the 12 months ending June 2010 is 56.8%
	Proven reoffending is defined as any offence committed in a one year follow-up period and receiving a court conviction, caution, reprimand or warning in the one year follow-up. Following this one year period, a further six months is allowed for cases to progress through the courts.
	As set out in ‘Breaking the Cycle’ Green Paper and the Government Response, we are implementing a radical new approach to work across Government and with the private and voluntary sectors to reform offenders, paying providers by the results they achieve in reducing reoffending. We are also supporting closer partnership working at the local level on release, including: getting offenders free from drug and alcohol problems and addressing offenders' mental health problems; improving offenders skills and getting them into work; and reducing barriers to resettlement, for example through the Integrated Offender Management approach.
	In addition, we are currently consulting on measures to make community sentences more effective. We believe there is a need for intensive community punishment for offenders who deserve a significant level of punishment, but for whom punishment in the community is appropriate and will be more effective at reducing the risks of their reoffending.

Social Security Benefits: Appeals

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will estimate the proportion that the £20 million funding assigned for debt, housing, welfare benefit and employment advice by not for profit advice agencies represents of the collective total funding likely to be lost to those agencies when legal aid is taken out of scope.

Jonathan Djanogly: The £20 million fund announced by the Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office, my hon. Friend the Member for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner (Mr Hurd) in November 2011 was designed to provide immediate support to the advice sector in the short term, during 2012-13. This fund was not designed to replace any reduction in legal aid funding that not for profit agencies may experience, following the scope changes taking effect from April 2013. As stated in my previous answer of Thursday 17 May on this issue, once implemented, the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 will reduce the number and types of cases for which legal aid will be available, including some matters currently handled by not for profit providers. However, these providers will be able to bid for the contracts that will be available going forward to deliver legal aid for the subjects that remain in scope.

Young Offenders: Greater Manchester

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many juvenile offenders from the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside were being held in (a) a secure children's home, (b) a secure training centre and (c) a young offender institution in each month since May 2005.

Crispin Blunt: The table shows the number of juvenile offenders (aged 10 to 17) either sentenced or remanded in custody attached to Tameside Youth Offending Team (YOT) who have been held in a (a) secure children's home, (b) secure training centre and (c) under 18 young offender institution in each month from May 2005 to March 2012.
	This data has been provided by the Youth Justice Board (YJB). The YJB only holds data at the YOT area level. YOT area data may cover more than one Metropolitan Borough or local authority area, however in this case the YOT and the Metropolitan Borough cover the same geographical area.
	This is based upon monthly snapshot data. Therefore one young person who is serving more than one month in custody may be shown in more than one month in the table.
	The data from April 2011 onwards are provisional and will be finalised when the 2011-12 Youth Justice Statistics are published in 2013.
	These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing and can be subject to change over time.
	
		
			 Table 1: Young people in custody attached to Tameside YOT by establishment type in each month from May 2005 to March 2012 
			  Secure Children's Homes Secure Training Centres Young Offender Institutions 
			 May 2005 4 0 13 
			 June 2005 5 0 12 
			 July 2005 4 1 17 
			 August 2005 4 0 18 
			 September 2005 5 0 16 
			 October 2005 3 0 16 
			 November 2005 1 1 16 
			 December 2005 2 0 16 
			 January 2006 2 0 16 
			 February 2006 0 1 15 
			 March 2006 2 1 21 
			 April 2006 2 0 16 
			 May 2006 3 0 17 
			 June 2006 3 0 20 
			 July 2006 2 1 25 
			 August 2006 2 1 29 
			 September 2006 1 2 23 
			 October 2006 1 1 22 
			 November 2006 1 0 23 
			 December 2006 2 0 20 
			 January 2007 3 2 16 
			 February 2007 3 2 14 
			 March 2007 2 3 12 
			 April 2007 3 2 8 
			 May 2007 3 1 10 
			 June 2007 2 1 12 
			 July 2007 2 2 14 
			 August 2007 2 0 13 
			 September 2007 3 0 15 
			 October 2007 0 0 15 
			 November 2007 0 0 17 
			 December 2007 1 0 14 
			 January 2008 2 0 18 
			 February 2008 2 0 16 
			 March 2008 2 0 14 
			 April 2008 1 0 14 
			 May 2008 1 0 17 
			 June 2008 0 0 16 
			 July 2008 0 0 15 
			 August 2008 0 0 13 
			 September 2008 0 0 17 
			 October 2008 0 0 13 
			 November 2008 0 0 13 
			 December 2008 0 0 9 
			 January 2009 0 0 7 
			 February 2009 0 0 3 
			 March 2009 2 0 5 
			 April 2009 0 0 7 
			 May 2009 1 0 9 
			 June 2009 1 0 7 
			 July 2009 0 0 8 
			 August 2009 1 0 5 
			 September 2009 2 0 7 
		
	
	
		
			 October 2009 2 0 9 
			 November 2009 1 1 5 
			 December 2009 1 1 6 
			 January 2010 1 1 7 
			 February 2010 1 1 7 
			 March 2010 0 1 11 
			 April 2010 0 1 9 
			 May 2010 1 2 4 
			 June 2010 1 3 5 
			 July 2010 1 3 5 
			 August 2010 2 2 5 
			 September 2010 2 1 6 
			 October 2010 0 1 6 
			 November 2010 0 0 8 
			 December 2010 0 0 6 
			 January 2011 0 0 10 
			 February 2011 0 1 12 
			 March 2011 0 1 15 
			 April 2011 0 0 15 
			 May 2011 0 0 13 
			 June 2011 2 0 14 
			 July 2011 3 0 10 
			 August 2011 1 0 12 
			 September 2011 1 0 13 
			 October 2011 1 0 15 
			 November 2011 2 0 16 
			 December 2011 2 0 16 
			 January 2012 1 0 12 
			 February 2012 1 0 10 
			 March 2012 2 0 11 
			 Notes: 1. YJB data referring to Secure Training Centres (STCs), Secure Children’s Homes (SCHs), and Under 18 Young Offender Institutions (YOIs). This is based upon monthly snapshot data therefore one young person who is serving more than one month in custody, will be shown in more than one month in the table. The figures from April 2011 onwards are provisional. Data from April 2011 onwards will be finalised when the 2011-12 Annual Youth Justice Statistics are published in 2013. 2. The data comes from the Youth Justice Board's Secure Accommodation Clearing House System (SACHS). These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing and may be subject to change over time.

Police Remuneration and Conditions

Mark Spencer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment she has made of part 2 of the independent review of police officers' and staff remuneration and conditions.

Nick Herbert: The Secretary of State for the Home Department, my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May), has referred the report's recommendations to the Police Negotiating Board, the Police Advisory Board of England and Wales and the Police Staff Council as appropriate for consideration. It will be for these bodies to consider them and report back with their recommendations, which she will consider carefully.

Crime Prevention

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether officials in her Department discussed the use of the police preferred specification marquee with the Association of Chief Police Officers Crime Prevention Initiative Ltd in the last 12 months.

Nick Herbert: Home Office Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of international partners, as well as organisations and individuals in the public and private sectors, as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such meetings.

Discrimination: Ethnic Groups

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what consideration she has given to the report by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research on the incidence of discrimination by caste and descent in the UK.

Lynne Featherstone: We have carefully considered the findings of the report by the National Institute for Economic and Social Research. The report identifies evidence suggesting that discrimination and harassment on grounds of caste exists in the UK, but notes that it is impossible to determine categorically that caste discrimination and harassment within the meaning of the Equality Act 2010 has occurred. That is why we have also been giving full and careful consideration to the correspondence and representations put forward by both those who want the Government to legislate and those who are opposed to such legislation being introduced, before reaching any final conclusion on this matter.

Entry Clearances: Overseas Students

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she expects the UK Border Agency to have cleared its backlog of student visa expirations.

Damian Green: The Secretary of State for the Home Department, my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May), is confident that the UK Border Agency will have completed all action on this cohort of Tier 4 student notifications by the end of May.

Procurement

Michael Dugher: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of her Department's expenditure on procurement has gone to small and medium-sized enterprises since May 2010.

Damian Green: Since May 2010, 7% of the Home Office's procurement expenditure has gone directly to small and medium-sized enterprises.
	From April 2011, information has been collected on spend which flows through prime contractors to small and medium enterprises. In the period April 2011 to March 2012 the proportion of direct and indirect procurement spend going to small and medium sized enterprises was 12%.

Procurement

Michael Dugher: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of his Department's expenditure on procurement has gone to small and medium-sized enterprises since May 2010.

Peter Luff: The proportion of departmental procurement spend going direct to small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) is measured across each financial year (from 1 April to 31 March) and I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 30 April 2012, Official Report, column 1146W.
	The Department's spend with SMEs in 2011-12 (to end December 2011) has now been reported in the Cabinet Office report, “Making Government business more accessible to SMEs—One Year On”, which can be accessed at:
	www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/resource-library/making-government-business-more-accessible-smes-one-year

Territorial Army

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Territorial Army personnel have completed five or more years of consecutive service but have not qualified for a Diamond Jubilee Medal.

Andrew Robathan: As the award of the Queens Diamond Jubilee Medal is ongoing, accurate data is not currently held on the joint personnel administration computer system, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Territorial Army

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many recruits signed up to the Territorial Army in each of the last five years for which figures are available; how many of such recruits became fully trained soldiers in each such year; and how many such recruits who (a) were and (b) were not members of the training corps left in each such year.

Andrew Robathan: The following table shows the number of recruits, excluding those in the Officer Training Corps, who joined the Territorial Army in each of the last five financial years. Information on the number of those recruits who became fully trained soldiers, or for those who left the Territorial Army before completing this training, is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	
		
			 Total Territorial Army intake (excluding Officer Training Corps) 
			  Total 
			 2007-08 6,970 
			 2008-09 5,880 
			 2009-10 5,380 
			 2010-11 3,840 
			 2011-12 4,240 
		
	
	The number of officer training cadets who joined the Officer Training Corps during the same period, is provided in the following table. Cadets join the Officer Training Corps while at university and can resign at any time. There is no obligation for them to join the armed forces when they leave university.
	Information on the number of officer training cadets who have resigned from the Officer Training Corps is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	
		
			 Intake to Officer Training Corps 
			  Number 
			 2007-08 2,240 
			 2008-09 2,470 
			 2009-10 1,990 
			 2010-11 2,160 
			 2011-12 2,880

China

Denis MacShane: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether his Department has received any video, cctv, film or mobile telephone images taken in the hotel room in Chongquing where Neil Heywood was killed.

Jeremy Browne: The British Government is not in possession of any images taken in the hotel room in which Neil Heywood's body was found.

Conservative Party and Liberal Democrats

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  what (a) grants and (b) contracts his Department has awarded to companies or organisations run by individuals who were previously employed in any capacity by (i) the Conservative party or its elected representatives and (ii) the Liberal Democrat party or its elected representatives since May 2010; what the (A) value and (B) nature was of these contracts; and whether they were publicly advertised;
	(2)  what (a) grants and (b) contracts his Department has awarded to companies or organisations run by individuals who previously held an elected position as a member of the (i) Conservative party and (ii) Liberal Democrat party since May 2010; what the (A) value and (B) nature was of these contracts; and whether they were publicly advertised;
	(3)  which individuals have been paid by his Department for consultancy or other services who were previously employed in any capacity by the (a) Conservative party or its elected representatives and (b) Liberal Democrat party or its elected representatives since May 2010; what the (i) cost and (ii) nature was of the services provided; and whether they were publicly advertised;
	(4)  which individuals have been paid by his Department for consultancy or other services who previously held an elected position as a member of the (a) Conservative party and (b) Liberal Democrat party since May 2010; what the (i) cost and (ii) nature was of the services provided; and whether they were publicly advertised.

David Lidington: As part of this Government's Transparency agenda, since 2010 all contracts over the value of £10,000 are published on Contracts Finder.

Conservative Party and Liberal Democrats

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the (a) job title and (b) pay band was of each official, excluding special advisers, recruited by his Department since May 2010 who was previously employed in any capacity by the (i) Conservative party or its elected representatives and (ii) Liberal Democrat party or its elected representatives; and whether their position was advertised publicly.

Henry Bellingham: To collect any such information would require a search of all human resources records which would involve disproportionate costs.

Conservative Party and Liberal Democrats

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the (a) job title and (b) pay band was of each official, excluding special advisers, recruited by his Department since May 2010 who previously held an elected position as a member of the (i) Conservative Party and (ii) Liberal Democrat Party; and whether their position was advertised publicly.

Henry Bellingham: To collect any such information would require a search of all Human Resources records which would involve disproportionate costs.

Consultants

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much his Department spent on external consultants, including management consultants, in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12; and if he will make a statement.

David Lidington: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) spent £19.2 million in financial year 2010-11 and £12.04 million in financial year 2011-12 on external consultants, including management consultants, a reduction of 37% in a year.
	The FCO is committed to procuring consultants / consultancy services in line with the Cabinet Office approvals process. Since July 2010 there has been a freeze on all new consultancy expenditure except where there is a strong business case to draw on specialised expertise that is not available internally. Such a business case requires Cabinet Office approval in addition to internal approval for new and existing consultancy spend over £20,000, and submitted for re-approval every three months from the date of contract commencement. Contracts are reviewed regularly and any request to prolong a consultancy agreement beyond nine months must be submitted to the Efficiency Reform Group (ERG) at the Cabinet Office.

Israel

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the International Committee of the Red Cross on the humanitarian needs of Palestinian prisoners in Israel.

Alistair Burt: We hold regular discussions with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on the humanitarian needs of Palestinian prisoners in Israel, which remains an issue of significant concern to the UK Government. The British embassy in Tel Aviv and consulate general in Jerusalem keep in close contact with the ICRC Head of Delegation on these issues.
	The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), issued a public statement on 16 May welcoming the agreement reached to end the mass hunger strike by Palestinian prisoners. We have commended all sides, including the Palestinian Authority, the prisoners' representatives, the Egyptian authorities and the Israeli Government for their roles in finding a solution that prevents loss of life. We particularly welcome Israel's agreement to limit the use of administrative detention and solitary confinement, and to reinstate family visits for detainees.

Middle East

Ben Bradshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Israeli authorities on recovering the costs or repairing damage caused to the Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery in Gaza during operation Cast Lead.

Alistair Burt: The British Government has had extensive discussions with the Israeli authorities, in particular with the Ministry of Defence, over several years on behalf of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission about recovering costs, or repairing damage to the Cemetery in Gaza following Israel's operation Cast Lead. Israel does not accept liability for the damage caused but recognises the significance of the cemetery from a historical point of view. Israel made an ex-gratia payment of £40,000 towards the cost of repairing the damage to the Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery.

Thailand

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment his Department has made of the treatment of people (a) arrested and (b) convicted under lèse majesté laws in Thailand.

Jeremy Browne: The UK attaches great importance to human rights, democracy and the rule of law. Freedom of expression is a fundamental right of every human being. We are closely following the development of freedom of expression in Thailand and are concerned by the significant increase of lese-majeste cases in the country and the application of the laws and length of sentences in recent cases.
	With our European Union partners, the UK expressed concern last year at the conviction and imprisonment for 20 years of Ampon Tangnoppakul for violating the lese-majeste laws.
	Our embassy in Bangkok continues to monitor the ongoing trials of high profile lese-majeste and freedom of expression on the internet cases. We have urged the Thai Government to ensure that the rule of law is applied in a non-discriminatory and proportionate manner consistent with upholding basic human rights, and will continue to take appropriate opportunities to do so.
	During my visit to Thailand in 2010, I raised the issue of conditions for detainees in Thailand, referring specifically to the importance of access to exercise, proper food and medical facilities.

Thailand

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment his Department has made of the compliance of lèse majesté laws in Thailand with Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; and what representations he has made to the government of Thailand on freedom of expression and the lèse majesté laws.

Jeremy Browne: We understand the particular reverence the people of Thailand have for the monarchy. The Government attaches importance to the respect of fundamental human rights in line with the universal declaration of human rights. Specifically on article 19 which covers freedom of opinion and expression, the UK thinks that it should be possible to discuss constitutional reform without fear of coming under the purvue of laws that were designed for non political purposes. In October 2011 at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, the human rights situation in Thailand was reviewed as part of the Universal Periodic Review process. The UK played an active role, including raising our concerns about freedom of expression and specifically recommending that the Thai Government seek to review its lese-majeste laws. The report of this session can be found online at the following link:
	www.upr-info.org/IMG/pdf/a_hrc_wg.6_12_l.6_thailand.pdf
	Our ambassador in Bangkok has raised the issue of freedom of expression with the Thai authorities. I also raised the issue when I visited Thailand in September 2011. We will continue to take appropriate opportunities to do so.

Trade Unions

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many trade union representatives in (a) his Department and (b) each of its non-departmental public bodies had (i) part-time and (ii) full-time paid facility time arrangements in 2011-12.

Henry Bellingham: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) follows the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service Code of Practice "Time Off for Trades Union Duties and Activities".
	Elected trade union representatives are as follows:
	(a) FCO—seven full-time officers
	(b) FCO Services—one full-time officer and 0.5 part-time officer
	(c) Wilton Park staff are nominally also represented by (a)
	In addition to these, there are 37 members of staff who are volunteer branch committee members. They carry out this role in addition to their normal day job. The FCO's Facility Agreement allows up to 25 days paid facility time per year. Actual time taken is not recorded centrally.

Trade Unions

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many meetings have taken place between (a) his Department and (b) its non-departmental public bodies and trade union representatives utilising paid facility time in each of the last five years to discuss (i) collective bargaining, (ii) redundancies, (iii) negotiations relating to employment, pay and conditions and (iv) other trade union and industrial relations duties; and what the dates and times were of each meeting.

Henry Bellingham: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), FCO Services and Wilton Park do not hold this information centrally and it could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	However, we hold meetings with representatives of our recognised trade unions on matters affecting staff on a regular basis. This includes the annual Whitley Council meeting and meetings on areas where consultation with trade unions is a statutory requirement such as redundancy, The Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment), Health and Safety and pensions.

Care Homes

Nick Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what systems are in place to minimise the impact of provider failure on users of care and nursing homes;
	(2)  who is responsible for oversight of the financial viability of private companies that provide care and nursing home services.

Paul Burstow: The responsibility for providing or arranging residential care rests with local authorities, which have specific duties of care to their populations under section 21(a) of the National Assistance Act 1948 and Section 47(5) of the National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990.
	The NHS and Community Care Act 1990 gives local authorities the powers to provide or arrange care services for anyone in urgent need. Were a care home to fail, no resident—whether publicly or self-funded—would be left homeless or without care. In an emergency, a local authority could provide residential accommodation to anyone—publicly or self-funded—who had an urgent need for it. A local authority would continue to provide care for any self-funding resident who was unable to find or arrange care for themselves.
	As commissioners and providers of care services, local authorities have a responsibility to manage the care sector in their areas in order to ensure there is a suitable range of provision available to meet local need.
	Social care is a devolved matter; different oversight and regulatory mechanisms are in place across the United Kingdom. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has responsibility for the regulation of adult social care in England. As such, it contributes to ensuring the safety and wellbeing of people who use social care services. All providers of regulated activities in England must be registered with the CQC and meet the registration requirements, which are set out in regulations made under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.
	The regulations include a requirement to take all reasonable steps to carry on the regulated activity in such a manner as to ensure the financial viability of the carrying on of that activity. This requirement does not apply to local authorities or NHS bodies. The CQC can take enforcement action, including cancellation of registration, if the registration requirements are not met.
	In October 2011, the Department published a discussion paper, “Oversight of the Social Care Market”, which outlined the issues facing the social care market and possible options for strengthening oversight of the largest and most complex providers. A copy has already been placed in the Library. This has provided a valuable opportunity for us to hear views on this area and reflect on the best approach.
	We have considered the responses to the consultation paper, arid intend to address the issue of market oversight in the forthcoming White Paper on Care and Support.

Care Homes

Nick Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether his Department had any communication with representatives of Terra Firma about the company's short and long term plans for the care and nursing home group, Four Seasons, prior to its recent takeover of Four Seasons; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Burstow: There were no meetings before the take-over. Departmental officials met with representatives of Terra Firma on 1 May, after the announcement of the take-over, to discuss the company's plans and intentions.
	The Department welcomes any development that will help give security to the residents and employees of Four Seasons' care homes. This has always been the Government's priority.

Cystic Fibrosis

Jason McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has been made of the merits of exempting people with cystic fibrosis from prescription charges.

Simon Burns: In 2009, Professor Sir Ian Gilmore carried out a review to consider, how to extend free prescriptions to all those with long-term conditions. This review made a number of proposals, and was published in May 2010 by the Government.
	We announced in the spending review, published in October 2010, that to ensure spending in the national health service is focused on priorities, some programmes announced by the previous Government would not be implemented—including proposals to extend free prescriptions to all those with long-term conditions.
	We are continuing to look at options for creating a fairer system of prescription charges and exemptions, which takes into account the overall NHS financial context and introduction of universal credit. We have no current plans for a further review of the list of medical conditions that confer exemption.

Epilepsy

Valerie Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many unplanned hospitalisations patients with epilepsy had in (a) 2009, (b) 2010, (c) 2011 and (d) 2012.

Paul Burstow: The information is shown in the following table.
	
		
			 Count of finished admission episodes (1)  (FAEs) where the patient had a primary diagnosis (2 ) of epilepsy and was admitted as an emergency for the period 2008-09 to 2010-11, (3)  and provisional data from April 2011 to January 2012 (4) . 
			  April 2011 to January 2012 (4) 2010-11 2009-10 2008-09 
			 FAEs total 32,483 39,126 38,335 37,679 
			 (1) Finished admission episodes (FAE) A FAE is the first period of in-patient care under one consultant within one health care provider. FAEs are counted against the year in which the admission episode finishes. Admissions do not represent the number of in-patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year. (2) Primary diagnosisThe primary diagnosis is the first of up to 20 (14 from 2002-03 to 2006-07 and seven prior to 2002-03) diagnosis fields in the Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data set and provides the main reason why the patient was admitted to hospital. ICD10 codes used: G40: Epilepsy G41: Status Epilepticus. (3) Assessing growth through timeHES figures are available from 1989-90 onwards. Changes to the figures over time need to be interpreted in the context of improvements in data quality and coverage (particularly in earlier years), improvements in coverage of independent sector activity (particularly from 2006-07) and changes in national health service practice. For example, apparent reductions in activity may be due to a number of procedures which may now be undertaken in outpatient settings and so no longer include in admitted patient HES data. (4) Provisional dataThe data is provisional and may be incomplete or contain errors for which no adjustments have yet been made. Counts produced from provisional data are likely to be lower than those generated for the same period in the final dataset. This shortfall will be most pronounced in the final month of the latest period, that is November from the (month nine) April to November extract. It is also probable that clinical data are not complete, which may in particular affect the last two months of any given period. There may also be errors due to coding inconsistencies that have not yet been investigated and corrected. Data qualityHES are compiled from data sent by more than 300 NHS trusts and primary care trusts in England and from some independent sector organisations for activity commissioned by the English NHS. The NHS Information Centre for health and social care liaises closely with these organisations to encourage submission of complete and valid data and seeks to minimise inaccuracies. While this brings about improvement over time, some shortcomings remain. Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), The Health and Social Care Information Centre.

Hepatitis: Prisoners

Robert Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what steps his Department is taking to improve access to screening and treatment for hepatitis C in prisons;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the number of prisoners in England (a) with hepatitis C, (b) screened for hepatitis C upon entering prison and (c) with hepatitis C undergoing treatment.

Paul Burstow: Offender Health has worked with Professor Martin Lombard, National Clinical Director for Liver Disease, to survey hepatitis C services in prisons in England. The aims of the survey were: to map existing service provision for prisoners in relation to hepatitis C testing and treatment; to develop a national database of services providing hepatitis C treatment for prisoners; and, to use the survey to develop a national hepatitis C prison network to share good practice across England and help to develop a model for the diagnosis and treatment of hepatitis C in prison.
	A survey report is due to be published soon and is expected to demonstrate that prisons in England are providing access to screening and treatment for hepatitis C.
	Information is not collected centrally about the number of people living with hepatitis C in England and is therefore not available in respect of prisoners in England with hepatitis C, or being screened for hepatitis C upon entering prison or for prisoners with hepatitis C who are undergoing treatment.
	Offender Health have begun to collect quarterly data on the total number of tests carried out in prisons in England for Hepatitis C for the Prison Health Quality and Performance Indicators dataset. Data is available from April 2010 only and the number of tests performed per quarter in reporting prisons and the percentage of total new receptions to those prisons this figure represents is shown in the following table.
	
		
			 Number of hepatitis C tests performed in prisons in England since April 2010: per quarter and as a percentage of total new receptions 
			   Number Percentage 
			 Q1 2010-11 1,498 4 
			 Q2 2010-11 1,793 5 
			 Q3 2010-11 1,722 5 
			 Q4 2010-11 2,187 7 
			 Q1 2011-12 2,477 7 
			 Q2 2011-12 2,585 6 
			 Q3 2011-12 2,746 6 
			 Source: NHS South West 
		
	
	However, this data may not reflect the total number of tests performed on people in prison as testing may also be carried out in sexual health services for example, which is not captured in this dataset.

Hospitals: Greater London

Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in (a) Camberwell and Peckham constituency and (b) the London borough of Southwark waited longer than 18 weeks for a consultation for secondary services in each of the last five years.

Simon Burns: The information is not available in the format requested.
	The following tables show information on the number of non-admitted patients who waited more than 18 weeks from referral to start of treatment during the month, for Southwark Primary Care Trust (PCT), from August 2007 (when the data was first collected) to February 2012. The tables also show the percentage of non-admitted patients who started their treatment within 18 weeks over the same period, for Southwark PCT.
	
		
			 Southwark PCT 2007-09 
			 Referral to treatment (RTT) non-admitted patients treated during the month that waited more than 18 weeks Total Percentage in 18 weeks 
			 August 2007 1,151 75.2 
			 September 2007 975 75.3 
			 October 2007 785 84.3 
			 November 2007 801 84.0 
			 December 2007 509 88.1 
			 January 2008 696 86.9 
			 February 2008 560 88.6 
			 March 2008 306 91.6 
			 April 2008 305 92.1 
			 May. 2008 266 93.5 
			 June 2008 284 92.8 
			 July 2008 312 92.5 
			 August 2008 225 93.8 
			 September 2008 281 93.5 
			 October 2008 170 96.6 
			 November 2008 195 95.9 
			 December 2008 191 95.8 
			 January 2009 155 96.8 
			 February 2009 125 96.9 
			 March 2009 165 96.9 
			 April 2009 185 96.2 
		
	
	
		
			 May 2009 150 96.8 
			 June 2009 213 96.2 
			 July 2009 187 96.6 
			 August 2009 166 96.5 
			 September 2009 175 96.8 
			 October 2009 145 97.3 
			 November 2009 150 97.2 
			 December 2009 98 97.8 
			 Source: Department of Health, Knowledge and Intelligence 
		
	
	
		
			 Southwark PCT 2010-12 
			 RTT non-admitted patients treated during the month that waited more than 18 weeks Total Percentage in 18 weeks 
			 January 2010 92 98.0 
			 February 2010 107 97.8 
			 March 2010 125 97.9 
			 April 2010 86 98.3 
			 May 2010 128 97.5 
			 June 2010 102 97.6 
			 July 2010 155 97.4 
			 August 2010 101 98.2 
			 September 2010 176 97.0 
			 October 2010 148 97.2 
			 November 2010 219 96.4 
			 December 2010 181 96.3 
			 January 2011 259 95.4 
			 February 2011 208 96.1 
			 March 2011 273 95.8 
			 April 2011 185 96.3 
			 May 2011 195 96.7 
			 June 2011 205 96.9 
			 July 2011 172 97.1 
			 August 2011 200 96.8 
			 September 2011 234 96.5 
			 October 2011 212 96.8 
			 November 2011 227 96.6 
			 December 2011 146 97.3 
			 January 2012 205 96.7 
			 February 2012 156 97.4 
			 Source: Department of Health, Knowledge and Intelligence

Non-departmental Public Bodies

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many quangos his Department has (a) abolished and (b) established since May 2010.

Simon Burns: The Department has not abolished any arm’s length bodies (ALBs) since May 2010. The Alcohol Education and Research Council, National Patient Safety Agency, and the General Social Care Council will be closed in July 2012, A number of other ALBs will close later in 2012 or early 2013.
	Two new ALBs—the Health Research Authority and the NHS Commissioning Board Authority have been established.

Pancreatic Cancer

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps the Government is taking to improve awareness of pancreatic cancer and to encourage early diagnosis.

Paul Burstow: We are committed to improving outcomes for all cancer patients, including those with pancreatic cancer. Achieving earlier diagnosis of cancer is key to our ambition to save an additional 5,000 lives a year from cancer by 2014-15 and we have provided more than £450 million over the spending review period to improve general practitioner (GP) access to key diagnostic tests; support campaigns to raise public awareness of the signs and symptoms of cancer and to encourage people to visit their GP when they have persistent symptoms; and to pay for more treatment and testing in secondary care.
	We know that some types of cancer can be difficult diagnose, often because their symptoms are shared with more common, benign conditions. To better understand the barriers to early diagnosis and to discuss possible solutions, departmental officials met with a range of cancer charities during spring and summer 2011, including two pancreatic cancer charities. This work has been fed into the National Awareness and Early Diagnosis Initiative. I also met with Pancreatic Cancer UK on 17 December 2011 to hear their concerns in more detail and I will be attending the charity's early diagnosis workshop in June2012.
	To further address the need to improve awareness of rarer cancers, such as pancreatic cancer, consideration also is being given to piloting a symptom-based approach awareness campaign covering multiple cancers. A final decision on campaign work in 2011-12 will be subject to funding and Efficiency and Reform Group approval.

Post-traumatic Stress Disorder

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what the process is for referring a former soldier who may have post traumatic stress disorder to a trauma unit;
	(2)  what proportion of veterans in the community with post traumatic stress disorder are also addicted to alcohol or drugs;
	(3)  what the monthly cost is of residence at a trauma unit for former military personnel;
	(4)  what estimate he has made of the proportion of veterans in the community with post traumatic stress disorder.

Simon Burns: With regards post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), overall, primary and secondary mental health services are organised around local need as determined by primary care trusts and foundation trusts. A number of trusts have developed specialist trauma services to deal with complex PTSD. Outside this group there are a number of reputable services and psychological therapies services that also offer National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence concordant interventions for complex PTSD. These services marry well with primary care services and the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) group. The large investment in IAPT services has meant that these services are managing all people with less complicated PTSD presentations.
	All local services will have a strategy for managing alcohol and other substance use disorders.
	In addition, the Armed Forces Networks (based on the previous 10 strategic health authority areas) have been putting in place increased resources and mental health professionals focussed on providing services to veterans with mental health problems.
	The Department does not collect information in relation to numbers of veterans with drug and alcohol addictions centrally.
	It is not possible to give ‘general’ figures in relation to residence at a trauma unit, as these would vary depending on the unit in question, the resident's needs, the length of stay, etc.
	Data provided by the Academic Centre for Defence Mental Health, King's College London, suggests that 4% of armed forces not deployed report symptoms of probable PTSD and 4% of those deployed report symptoms of probable PTSD (being deployed itself is not associated with PTSD among regulars). This reflects the level of PTSD within the wider population as a whole. Based on current evidence, 7% of those who deploy in a combat role are likely to report symptoms of PTSD at some point post-deployment. Information is not available on the number of armed forces personnel suffering from complex PTSD and/or acute stress.

Procurement

Michael Dugher: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when his Department next expects to undertake a spend recovery audit to identify overpayments to suppliers caused by fraud or error.

Simon Burns: Following an announcement made by the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, my right hon. Friend the Member for Horsham (Mr Maude), on 6 February 2012, the Department, along with all other central Government Departments, is required to undertake a spend recovery audit by December 2013.
	The Department has not undertaken a spend recovery audit to date and is taking direction from the Cabinet Office, who are currently identifying procurement options that will enable Government Departments to commission spend recovery audits in an efficient manner, securing best value for money for the taxpayer.

Radiotherapy

Tessa Munt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans the NHS has to replace old radiotherapy equipment in the next three years; whether those plans include an exclusive national price agreement with one radiotherapy equipment supplier; and how he plans to ensure that radiotherapy equipment replacement programmes are compatible with the requirement for openness and transparency under the provisions of the Health and Social Care Act 2012.

Paul Burstow: Decisions regarding renewal of radiotherapy machines are taken locally and need to be assessed against local priorities. It is the responsibility of each individual organisation to ensure that it adopts good asset management and financial planning. However, national teams such as the National Cancer Action Team and NHS Improvement provide support to help providers plan for their equipment needs.
	The Department has recently worked with NHS Supply Chain to launch a new procurement scheme that allows trusts to access high-value medical equipment at significantly discounted prices. The scheme allows NHS Supply Chain to purchase equipment up front through use of a central capital fund, and then pass on discounts to trusts. The scheme does not limit choice or supplier.
	Within the Cancer Peer Review programme; the radiotherapy measures require local organisations to agree an equipment replacement programme with their cancer network. The outcome of the Peer Review programme is shared with commissioners.

Schizophrenia

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what steps his Department is taking to improve diagnosis, treatment and access to long-lasting injectables for people in prison with schizophrenia;
	(2)  what estimate his Department has made of the number of prisoners (a) with schizophrenia, (b) receiving treatment for schizophrenia and (c) released with schizophrenia in England in each of the last five years.

Paul Burstow: Offenders are entitled to expect, and receive, the same quality of treatments and services from the national health service as anyone else. All prisons have access to on-site health care teams, which can treat most mental health problems and issue prescriptions required by prisoners.
	From 2013, the National Health Service Commissioning Board (NHSCB) will be responsible for commissioning of health services for those in custody. The NHSCB will assume commissioning responsibilities for mental health services for those in prison and other detained settings.
	The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence updated its schizophrenia guidelines in 2009. They cover the care, treatment and support that adults, aged 18 and older, with schizophrenia should be offered. The guidelines recommended Cognitive Behavioural Therapy be offered, in an acute episode of schizophrenia. These guidelines apply to all adults, including prisoners.
	The NHS is responsible for commissioning health care in prisons where prisoners are entitled to receive the same level of care as people in the community. The services provided are based on a health needs assessment undertaken by the NHS commissioner and the prison, but all prisons have access to mental health care delivered by primary care and specialist mental health services.
	The information requested about schizophrenia services and morbidity is not collected centrally. However, a survey by the Office for National Statistics in 1997 estimated that around 90% of adult prisoners had at least one of the five disorders considered in the survey (personality disorder, psychosis, neurosis, alcohol misuse and drug dependence). This is an aggregate figure so the data will include adult prisoners with schizophrenia but the exact proportion of prisoners with schizophrenia is not known.
	The Department is currently setting up an audit of the mental health needs of offenders, both in prison and where possible in community settings. A feasibility study for this work is due to start later this year and a fuller research study is expected to be commissioned in 2013.

Developing Countries: Malnutrition

Susan Elan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps he is taking to tackle malnutrition in developing countries.

Stephen O'Brien: The UK is scaling up to reach 20 million pregnant women and children under five with nutrition interventions by 2015. Our support includes providing minerals such as iron which can reduce mother and infant deaths, and vitamin A to prevent blindness.
	We have also increased spending to improve nutrition in developing countries from an estimated £57million to £152 million per year from 2008-09 to 2011-12. Our spending on nutrition-related research has gone from £6.1 million to £20.4 million over the same period.
	In line with the G8 New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition, the UK is already supporting the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) movement—the most promising mechanism to bring the international community together behind a common vision for tackling under-nutrition, and intervening in the ‘1,000 day window’ of life to prevent stunting.

North Africa and Middle East

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what programmes his Department supports in North Africa and the Middle East on (a) women's social and political participation, (b) women's health and (c) reduction of female genital mutilation.

Alan Duncan: The UK is supporting the empowerment of women to play a full role in the political, economic and social life across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). As part of the UK's national action plan to implement UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security we have a specific action plan for the MENA region:
	(a) In terms of women's social and political participation, the UK's Arab Partnership is supporting women's political participation in the MENA region. For example, in Egypt we are working with the Electoral Reform International Services (ERIS) to promote the participation of women candidates in Egyptian local council elections and engagement of communities with their local councillors. The tri-department Conflict Pool has a suite of programmes in Libya encouraging women's participation in the Libyan political process.
	In our bilateral aid programmes in Yemen and Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs) we have also ensured women's empowerment is taken into account. For example, our support to the Yemeni Social Fund for Development (SFD) is contributing to increasing girls participation and access to education, and improving economic opportunities for women through micro finance and labour intensive works projects. In the OPTs, our statebuilding programme is also boosting citizen's rights by helping the Palestinian Authority to be more accountable and responsive to the public, including improving their services for female victims from violence.
	(b) Our bilateral programmes in Yemen and OPT also improving women's health. For example, UK support to the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) provides essential services, including female healthcare, to Palestinians living in the OPTs and Palestinian refugees across the near region. In 2011, our support to UNRWA helped provide maternal healthcare to 263,000 women, while our funding to the PA supports over 2,000 women a year to give birth assisted by skilled health personnel. In Yemen, our support will also help deliver access to basic health care for 50,000 girls and women and access to health care for approximately 38,000 women.
	(c) The Government is clear that the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) needs to end. While we do not have any specific FGM programmes in the MENA region, we are making a clear contribution to global measures to eliminating FGM through our core support to UN organisations working on this issue, namely the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Overseas Aid

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the areas of aid policy in which the European Commission has a competitive advantage over the UK.

Stephen O'Brien: DFID's multilateral aid review called for EU aid to be more poverty and results focused, The coalition Government is working tirelessly to reform the EU system and hold it to account on behalf of UK taxpayers. We are also pressing the EU to focus on areas where it can add the most value, such as working with the private sector to improve the business environment in developing countries and help people pull themselves out of poverty. The EU's size means it has the ability to implement large scale regional projects—such as roads, rail and energy infrastructure. We are working to ensure EU aid supports effective regional integration, particularly in Africa.
	The EU has a strong record on humanitarian response—for example, its reaction to the recent famine in the Sahel. We are working to ensure a stronger EU focus on resilience and disaster mitigation. We are also pushing the EU to prioritise support to girls and women, who are fundamental to development. Of course, development is not just about aid. One of the EU's greatest strengths is its potential to deliver a co-ordinated approach that brings together aid, trade and foreign policy. We are working with European partners to make EU policies more coherent so they better support poor, vulnerable and fragile states around the world.

Constituencies

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will bring forward legislative proposals to lower the limit on the number of government Ministers in line with his proposed reduction in the number of parliamentary constituencies.

Francis Maude: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Cabinet Office.
	The Government have been clear that they recognise the principle that there is a link between the legislature and the size of the executive; but this issue does not need to be resolved now, since the reduction in the size of the House of Commons would not take effect until 2015. The Government intend to reflect on the arguments made during the passage of the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill, and set out their plans once there is greater clarity on the composition of the second Chamber, including how many Ministers would be drawn from there. The Government remains committed to strengthening Parliament in relation to the Executive.

House of Lords: Reform

John Spellar: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will publish the Government's estimate of the cost of setting up and running the House of Lords as envisaged in his draft Bill.

Mark Harper: The costs of a reformed House of Lords will depend on a number of variables. In particular the number of members and the transitional arrangements will affect the cost of members' salaries and, allowances. We are considering the report of the Joint Committee on the Government's draft Bill before finalising our proposals for reform. We will publish full costs when we introduce a Bill.

Mitzvah Day UK

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how much funding he has allocated to Mitzvah Day UK.

Francis Maude: In 2011-12 the Cabinet Office provided a £30,000 grant to Mitzvah Day to fund an administrator role for the 'Year of Service' programme. This is an inter-faith series of events promoting and linking up faith-based volunteering during the Diamond Jubilee year, with nine faith communities in turn hosting a day or days of volunteering.

Older People

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office 
	(1)  how many people aged over 60 are registered (a) sick and (b) unemployed in England and Wales in the latest period for which figures are available;
	(2)  how many people aged over 60 are not registered (a) sick and (b) unemployed in England in the latest period for which figures are available.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated May 2012
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Questions asking i) how many people aged over 60 are registered (a) sick or (b) unemployed in England and Wales in the latest period for which figures are available (108375) and ii) how many people aged over 60 are not registered (a) sick or (b) unemployed in England in the latest period for which figures are available (108376).
	It is estimated from the Labour Force Survey in January to March 2012 that in England & Wales there were 115,000 people aged over 60 who were unemployed and 515,000 people economically inactive due to long-term sickness or disability. For the same period it is estimated that in England 11.1 million people aged over 60 were neither unemployed nor economically inactive due to long-term sickness or disability.
	A registered count of people aged over 60 who are 'sick' or 'unemployed' is not available. The Labour Force Survey provides estimates of unemployment based upon the International Labour Organization (ILO) measure, that is, those who are without a job and are actively seeking employment and available to start work. It also provides estimates of people who are economically inactive, that is, people who are without a job but do not satisfy the ILO criteria to be unemployed.
	As with any sample survey, estimates from the LFS are subject to a margin of uncertainty.

Recruitment

Stephen Timms: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office whether his Department issues guidance to Government Departments, agencies and non-departmental public bodies on the use of name-blank CVs or application forms for recruitment.

Francis Maude: Although recruitment processes differ between Departments, Civil Service Resourcing introduced an e-recruitment system that allows Departments to "blind" sift applicants by removing protected characteristics (for example: name, age, sex) from an application form.

Veterans: Jobseeker’s Allowance

Jim Murphy: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office 
	(1)  how many former service personnel were claiming jobseeker's allowance on (a) 1 January 2011, (b) 1 January 2012 and (c) 1 May 2012;
	(2)  how many former service personnel are claiming jobseeker's allowance;
	(3)  how many former service personnel have been claiming jobseeker's allowance for (a) longer than and (b) under one year.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated May 2012
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Questions asking (1) how many former service personnel were claiming jobseeker's allowance on (a) 1 January 2011, (b) 1 January 2012 and (c) 1 May 2012; (2) how many former service personnel are claiming jobseeker's allowance and (3) how many former service personnel have been claiming jobseeker's allowance for (a) longer than and (b) under one year. (108339 & 108340 & 108341).
	The number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) is taken from the Jobcentre Plus administrative system. Analysis is published each month on the number of claimants of JSA by the claimant's usual occupation and sought occupation. Occupations are defined using the Standard Occupational Classification 2000.
	Table 1 shows the number, of former service personnel claiming JSA in January 2011, January 2012 and April 2012, the most recent date for which figures are available. Former service personnel has been defined as SOC 2000 usual occupations 1171 (officer in the armed forces) and 3311 (NCO's and other ranks).
	Data for 'duration of claim' is not available for the requested occupational breakdowns.
	National and local area estimates for many labour market statistics, including employment, unemployment and claimant count are available on the NOMIS website at:
	http://www.nomisweb.co.uk
	
		
			 Table 1: Number (1)  of former service personnel (2)  claiming jobseeker's allowance by usual occupation 
			  Number 
			 January 2011 490 
			 January 2012 460 
			 April 2012 455 
			 (1) Occupation data is only available for computerised claims, which account for 99.7% of all claims. (2) Occupation based on Standard Occupational Classification 2000:1,171 (officers in the armed forces) and 3,311 (NCOs and other ranks) Note: Data rounded to nearest 5. Source: Jobcentre Plus Administrative System

Employment Schemes: Lone Parents

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which specialist subcontractors have provided services to lone parents on the Work programme in Bristol to date.

Chris Grayling: The data collected about Work programme supply chains does not enable an analysis of referrals to specialist subcontractors delivering support to lone parents. The Department has no plans to collect this data.
	The most recent official statistics on referrals and attachments to the Work programme were released on 21 February 2012 and are available on the Department's website:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/index.php?page=wp

Employment Schemes: Young People

Gareth Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many businesses in (a) Dartford constituency, (b) Kent, (c) the South East and (d) England have entered the Youth Contract programme; and how many people in each area have found employment through the programme.

Chris Grayling: The specific information requested is not available.
	Employers engage with us in a variety of ways and we are maximising every contact to promote the Youth Contract to ensure that we can provide close to half-a-million new opportunities for young people.

Pensioners: Income

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what proportion of pensioners were in receipt of occupational pension income in each of the last 30 years;
	(2)  what the (a) mean and (b) median amount of occupational pension income was received by those with entitlement in today's prices in each of the last 30 years.

Steve Webb: As these two questions are related, the following table provides the answer to both questions for available years. Analysis is for pensioner benefit units, defined as either single pensioners or pensioner couples. This analysis does not include incomes from others in a household.
	The following table provides proportion of pensioners in receipt of occupational pension income in each of the last 30 years, and the (a) mean and (b) median amount of occupational pension income received, in 2009-10 prices, for all available years.
	
		
			    Amount (£ per week, 2009-10 prices) 
			   Proportion of pensioners in receipt of occupational pension (percentage) Mean Median 
			 FES(1) 1979 40 68 33 
			  1981 43 69 34 
			  1987 51 97 50 
			  1988 50 110 53 
			  1989 53 96 51 
			  1990-91 54 101 51 
			  1992 56 110 58 
			  1993 57 111 58 
			      
			 FRS(2) 1994-95 57 124 68 
			  1995-96 58 123 66 
			  1996-97 59 127 72 
			  1997-98 59 131 77 
			  1998-99 59 137 76 
			  1999-2000 59 139 80 
			  2000-01 59 149 86 
			  2001-02 59 152 91 
		
	
	
		
			  2002-03 59 152 92 
			  2003-04 60 161 96 
			  2004-05 60 167 104 
			  2005-06 59 163 99 
			  2006-07 59 168 106 
			  2007-08 59 165 103 
			  2008-09 59 169 104 
			  2009-10 61 184 116 
			 (1) Source—Family Expenditure Survey (2) Source—Family Resources Survey Notes: 1. These statistics are based on Pensioners' Income Series (PI) data sourced from the Family Expenditure Survey (FES) and the Family Resources Survey (FRS). 2. All estimates are based on survey data and are therefore subject to a degree of uncertainty. Small differences should be treated with caution as these will be affected by, sampling error and variability in non-response. 3. The reference period for FRS-based PI figures is the financial year. FRS-based estimates are not available before 1994-95. FES-based PI data is based on calendar years. Data is presented for available years. The years presented correspond to publications that have correct data and where we have spent the time in ensuring income definitions, etc, are consistent. 4. Proportions of pensioners have been rounded to the nearest percentage point. Weekly occupational pension incomes have been rounded to the nearest £. 5. Older data is sourced from the FES. The two surveys have different response rates and response profiles, and there are some definitional differences in the data that are collected. Because of these differences, direct comparisons between results from the FES and FRS should not normally be made. 6. FES-sourced figures are for the United Kingdom and FRS-sourced figures are for Great Britain up to 2001 -02 and for the United Kingdom from 2002-03. 7. It was announced in May that the 2009-10 results will be revised when the 2010-11 results come out. See the DWP PI website for further information. Source: Pensioners' Incomes Series 2009-10

Personal Independence Payment: Visual Impairment

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of visually-impaired people resident in Kilmarnock and Loudoun constituency; and what proportion of these will be eligible for the personal independence payment.

Maria Miller: There are 130 people claiming disability living allowance in Kilmarnock and Loudoun with “blindness” as their main disabling condition. 90 of these claimants are aged between16-64 and therefore would be in scope to be reassessed for personal independence payment.
	Through the introduction of PIP we expect the number of 16 to 64-year-olds to be claiming the benefit by 2015-16 to be 1.7 million. Without reform we would expect 2.2 million 16 to 64-year-olds to be claiming disability living allowance at that time. However, it is not possible to break this impact down to smaller geographies or specific conditions.
	Personal independence payment is being designed to ensure that those who face the greatest barriers to living an independent life will be in receipt of the right level of support that recognises the individual's needs. Therefore entitlement to personal independence payment will be based on the extent to which an individual's health condition or impairment affects their day to day life, not on the nature of the health condition itself.
	We have already made substantial changes to the proposed assessment as a direct result of comments raised by visual impairment organisations such as RNIB—for example, on how we assess communication needs.
	But the assessment has not yet been finalised and we continue to work with these organisations to discuss how it can be further improved. If we need to make more changes to ensure the assessment fairly reflects the needs of blind and partially sighted people, we will do so.

Social Security Benefits: Disability

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent estimate he has made of the number of residents of Kilmarnock and Loudoun constituency who will become ineligible for disability-related welfare benefits as a result of his plans for welfare reform.

Maria Miller: It is not possible to break this impact down to smaller geographic locations.
	The impact assessment published in January estimates the number of 16 to 64-year-olds in receipt of PIP to be 1.7 million by March 2016. Without reform 2.2 million 16 to 64-year-olds were forecast to be receiving disability living allowance at that time.

Social Security Benefits: Lone Parents

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) lone parents with children under five and (b) claimants of (i) incapacity benefit, (ii) income support due to illness or disability, (iii) employment and support allowance and (iv) other incapacity-related out of work benefits have been sent a letter warning them that they may be affected by the benefit cap, and suggesting work as a way to prevent the cap applying to them.

Chris Grayling: The statistics required to answer this question have not already been published by the Department. The Department only publishes statistics in line with the guidelines for publishing ad hoc or official statistics. We will consider your request for these unpublished statistics as part of statistics released and published by the Department in due course.

Work Capability Assessment: Appeals

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  whether he has the power to require the Tribunal Service to publish statistical information on the outcome of appeals to work capability assessment decisions within and between tribunals;
	(2)  if he will ask the Tribunal Service to publish statistical information on the outcome of appeals to work capability assessment decisions by tribunal.

Chris Grayling: Appeals are lodged against decisions made by DWP decision makers on behalf of the Secretary of State, of which the work capability assessment is one part of the evidence used to inform, these decisions. The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions does not have the power to require Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) to publish this statistical information. HMCTS falls under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Justice. The Ministry of Justice is looking into what data can be produced at individual level and will consider this proposal as part of that work.
	The Ministry of Justice publishes details nationally of the outcome of hearing by benefit type in Quarterly and Annual Tribunal Statistics reports:
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/statistics/tribunals
	The Ministry of Justice is considering whether this information can be made available at a local level.

Care Homes

Nick Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment his Department has made since the collapse of Southern Cross in 2011 of the business models of companies providing care and nursing home services; and which companies have been assessed.

Norman Lamb: In social care, a market has been operating successfully for many years. However, Southern Cross highlighted the risks involved should a large, national provider of care and support services fall into financial distress and exit the market. The Government believes that this is a serious issue and has been taking forward work analysing the area.
	Responsibility for the regulation and oversight of the residential care sector rests with the Secretary of State for Health, the right hon. Member for South Cambridgeshire (Mr Lansley). The Department of Health has been leading the work on oversight of the social care market, including publishing a discussion paper, 'Oversight of the Social Care Market—Discussion Paper' in October 2011. As part of their work, Department of Health officials have been engaging with the sector, including its major providers, to better understand the potential risks to service delivery. Officials in BIS have been providing professional advice to the Department of Health to assist them in this work.
	The Government intends to outline its direction of travel in the forthcoming care and support White Paper, scheduled to be published in the summer.

Citizens' Advice Bureaux

Jim Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills which local authorities reduced funding for citizens advice bureaux (CAB) services in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12; by how much funding was reduced in each such case; which local authorities plan to reduce CAB funding and by how much in 2012-13; and whether there are any local authorities that no longer provide any funding for CAB services.

Norman Lamb: We have validated figures from citizens advice on local authority (LA) funding for 315 out of the 355 member bureaux. Of those 315 members, 103 bureaux reported a cut in LA funding averaging around 10% in 2011-12 compared to 2010-11, the remaining bureaux funding would have remained static or in some cases increased.
	For 2012-13, 69 bureaux out of the same 315 members reporting have indicated their funding will reduce by 10% or more.
	A list of those local authorities who have reduced funding has been placed in the Library of the House.

Copyright

Tristram Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills when he plans to publish a response to the Copyright Consultation.

Norman Lamb: The copyright consultation closed on 21 March, having run for 14 weeks. The Government is now considering all submissions received and intends to publish its response before the summer.

Groceries Code Adjudicator

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what plans he has for scrutiny of the work of the Groceries Code Adjudicator by Ministers of devolved administrations.

Norman Lamb: The Groceries Code Adjudicator Bill is a competition issue, and is therefore a non-devolved matter.
	Officials in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) have discussed the Bill with representatives of the Devolved Administrations during its drafting and will continue to do so as it is considered by both Houses of Parliament.

Insolvency: Costs

Paul Goggins: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent representations he has received on (a) a clearer definition and (b) stricter controls of administration expenses when a business enters administration; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Lamb: The Government is aware of stakeholders' concerns regarding administration expenses and of the importance of these provisions. We have been engaged with a number of stakeholders on this matter and continue to gather evidence from them on the effect of the issue in order to help us assess whether to make any changes.

Manufacturing Industries: Reading

Alok Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many manufacturing firms are located in Reading West constituency.

Mark Prisk: According to analysis of the Interdepartmental Business Register there were 140 manufacturing enterprises in the Reading West constituency as at March 2012.

Trade Unions

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills on how many occasions trade union representatives from (a) his Department and (b) each of the non-departmental public bodies have utilised paid facility time to represent an employee at a meeting or other industrial relations matter in each of the last five years.

Norman Lamb: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills does not hold central records on how many occasions trade union representatives represent an employee at a meeting or other industrial relations matter. This information is kept in the personal case files and to collate this information in each of the last five years would incur disproportionate costs.
	The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills does not hold this information centrally for its non-departmental public bodies. To do so would incur disproportionate costs.
	The Government will be consulting the civil service trade unions shortly on changes to current practices around facilities time.